Between the Gault and the chalk is the Upper Greensand with a hard bed of calcareous sandstone, the Malm rock, which stands up in places as a prominent escarpment. The Upper Greensand is also exposed at Burghclere as an inlier; the rocks are bent into a sharp anticline and the chalk, having been denuded from its crest, the older sandy strata are brought to light. A much more gentle anticline brings up the chalk through the Tertiary rocks in the neighbourhood of Fareham. Besides occupying the central region already mentioned, which includes Basingstoke, Whitchurch, Andover, Alresford and Winchester, the chalk appears also in a small patch round Rockbourne. The Tertiary rocks of the north (London basin) about Farnborough, Aldershot and Kingsclere, comprise the Reading beds, London clay and the more sandy Bagshot beds which cover the latter in many places, giving rise to heathy commons. The southern Tertiary rocks of the Hampshire basin include the Lower Eocene Reading beds—used for brick-making—and the London clay which extend from the boundary of the chalk by Romsey, Bishop’s Waltham, to Havant. These are succeeded towards the south by the Upper Eocene beds, the Bracklesham beds and the Barton clay. The Barton clays are noted for their abundant fossils and the Bagshot beds at Bournemouth contain numerous remains of subtropical plants. A series of clays and sands of Oligocene age (unknown in the London basin) are found in the vicinity of Lymington, Brockenhurst and Beaulieu; they include the Headon beds, with a fluvio-marine fauna, well exposed at Hordwell cliffs, and the marine beds of Brockenhurst. Numerous small outliers of Tertiary rocks are scattered over the chalk area, and many of the chalk and Tertiary areas are obscured by patches of Pleistocene deposits of brick earth and gravel.
Agriculture and Industries.—Nearly seven-tenths of the total area is under cultivation (an amount below the average of English counties) and of this area about two-fifths is in permanent pasture. The acreage under oats is roughly equal to that under wheat and barley. Small quantities of rye and hops are cultivated. Barley is usually sown after turnips, and is more grown in the uplands than in the lower levels. Beans, pease and potatoes are only grown to a small extent. On account of the number of sheep pastured on the uplands a large acreage of turnips is grown. Rotation grasses are grown chiefly in the uplands, and their acreage is greater than in any other of the southern counties of England. Sanfoin is the grass most largely grown, as it is best adapted to land with a calcareous subsoil. In the lower levels no sanfoin and scarcely any clover is grown, the hay being supplied from the rich water meadows, which are managed with great skill and attention, and give the best money return of any lands in the county. Where a rapid stream of water can be passed over them during the winter it seldom becomes frozen, and the grasses grow during the cold weather so as to be fit for pasture before any traces of vegetation appear in the surrounding fields. Hops are grown in the eastern part of the county bordering on Surrey. Farming is generally conducted on the best modern principles, but owing to the varieties of soil there is perhaps no county in England in which the rotation observed is more diversified, or the processes and methods more varied. Most of the farms are large, and there are a number of model farms. The waste land has been mostly brought under tillage, but a very large acreage of the ancient forests is still occupied by wood. In addition to the New Forest there are in the east Woolmer Forest and Alice Holt, in the south-east the Forest of Bere and Waltham Chase, and in the Isle of Wight Parkhurst Forest. The honey of the county is especially celebrated. Much attention is paid to the rearing of sheep and cattle. The original breed of sheep was white-faced with horns, but most of the flocks are now of a Southdown variety which have acquired certain distinct peculiarities, and are known as “short wools” or “Hampshire downs.” Cattle are of no distinctive breed, and are kept largely for dairy purposes, especially for the supply of milk. The breeding and rearing of horses is widely practised, and the fattening of pigs has long been an important industry. The original breed of pigs is crossed with Berkshire, Essex and Chinese pigs. In the vicinity of the forest the pigs are fed on acorns and beechmast, and the flesh of those so reared is considered the best, though the reputation of Hampshire bacon depends chiefly on the skilful manner in which it is cured.
The manufactures are unimportant, except those carried on at Portsmouth and Gosport in connexion with the royal navy. Southampton is one of the principal ports in the kingdom. In many of the towns there are breweries and tanneries, and paper is manufactured at several places. Fancy pottery and terra-cotta are made at Fareham and Bishop’s Waltham; and Ringwood is celebrated for its knitted gloves. At most of the coast towns fishing is carried on, and there are oyster beds at Hayling Island. Cowes in the Isle of Wight is the station of the Royal Yacht Squadron, and has building yards for yachts and large vessels. The principal seaside resorts besides those in the Isle of Wight are Bournemouth, Milford, Lee-on-the-Solent, Southsea and South Hayling. Aldershot is the principal military training centre in the British Isles.
Communications.—Communications are provided mainly by the lines of the London & South-Western railway company, which also owns the docks at Southampton. The main line serves Farnborough, Basingstoke, Whitchurch and Andover, and a branch diverges southward from Basingstoke for Winchester, Southampton and the New Forest and Bournemouth. An alternative line from eastward to Winchester serves Aldershot, Alton and Alresford. The main Portsmouth line skirts the south-eastern border by Petersfield to Havant, where it joins the Portsmouth line of the London, Brighton & South Coast railway. The South-Western system also connects Portsmouth and Gosport with Southampton, has numerous branches in the Southampton and south-western districts, and large work shops at Eastleigh near Southampton. The Great Western company serves Basingstoke from Reading and Whitchurch, Winchester and Southampton from Didcot (working the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton line); the Midland & South-Western Junction line connects Andover with Cheltenham; and the Somerset & Dorset (also a Midland & South-Western joint line) connects Bournemouth with Bath—all these affording through communications between Southampton, Bournemouth, and the midlands and north of England. None of the rivers, except in the estuarine parts, is navigable.
Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 1,039,031 acres, including the Isle of Wight. The population was 690,097 in 1891 and 797,634 in 1901. The area of the administrative county of Southampton is 958,742 acres, and that of the administrative county of the Isle of Wight 94,068 acres. The county is divided for parliamentary purposes into the following divisions: Northern or Basingstoke, Western or Andover, Eastern or Petersfield, Southern or Fareham, New Forest, and Isle of Wight, each returning one member. It also includes the parliamentary boroughs of Portsmouth and Southampton, each returning two members, and of Christchurch and Winchester, each returning one. There are 11 municipal boroughs: Andover (pop. 6509), Basingstoke (9793), Bournemouth (59,762), Christchurch (4204), Lymington (4165), Portsmouth (188,133), Romsey (4365), Southampton (104,824), Winchester (20,929), and in the Isle of Wight, Newport (10,911) and Ryde (11,043). Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Southampton are county boroughs. The following are urban districts: Aldershot (30,974), Alton (5479), Eastleigh and Bishopstoke (9317), Fareham (8246), Farnborough (11,500), Gosport and Alverstoke (28,884), Havant (3837), Itchen (13,097), Petersfield (3265), Warblington (3639); and in the Isle of Wight, Cowes (8652), East Cowes (3196), St Helen’s (4652), Sandown (5006), Shanklin (4533), Ventnor (5866). The county is in the western circuit, and assizes are held at Winchester. It has one court of quarter sessions, and is divided into 14 petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Andover, Basingstoke, Bournemouth, Lymington, Newport, Portsmouth, Romsey, Ryde, Southampton (a county in itself) and Winchester have separate commissions of the peace, and the boroughs of Andover, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester have in addition separate courts of quarter sessions. There are 394 civil parishes. Hampshire is in the diocese of Winchester, excepting small parts in those of Oxford and Salisbury, and contains 411 ecclesiastical parishes or districts wholly or in part.
History.—The earliest English settlers in the district which is now Hampshire were a Jutish tribe who occupied the northern parts of the Isle of Wight and the valleys of the Meon and the Hamble. Their settlements were, however, unimportant, and soon became absorbed in the territory of the West Saxons who in 495 landed at the mouth of the Itchen under the leadership of Cerdic and Cynric, and in 508 slew 5000 Britons and their king. But it was not until after another decisive victory at Charford in 519 that the district was definitely organized as West Saxon territory under the rule of Cerdic and Cynric, thus becoming the nucleus of the vast later kingdom of Wessex. The Isle of Wight was subjugated in 530 and bestowed on Stuf and Wihtgar, the nephews of Cerdic. The Northmen made their first attack on the Hampshire coast in 835, and for the two centuries following the district was the scene of perpetual devastations by the Danish pirates, who made their headquarters in the Isle of Wight, from which they plundered the opposite coast. Hampshire suffered less from the Conquest than almost any English county, and was a favourite resort of the Norman kings. The alleged destruction of property for the formation of the New Forest is refuted by the Domesday record, which shows that this district had never been under cultivation.
In the civil war of Stephen’s reign Baldwin de Redvers, lord of the Isle of Wight, supported the empress Matilda, and Winchester Castle was secured in her behalf by Robert of Gloucester, while the neighbouring fortress of Wolvesey was held for Stephen by Bishop Henry de Blois. In 1216 Louis of France, having arrived in the county by invitation of the barons, occupied Winchester Castle, and only met with resistance at Odiham Castle, which made a brave stand against him for fifteen days. During the Wars of the Roses Anthony Woodville, 2nd earl Rivers, defeated the duke of Clarence at Southampton, and in 1471, after the battle of Barnet, the countess of Warwick took
